


Cracks in the Stone

by fabulousreaper



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: M/M, Mystery Trio, Rating May Change, Rose Quartz mentioned, Warnings May Change, established Fiddleford H. McGucket/Stanley Pines, kind of a SU crossover, mainly due to violence and language, some OCs, still figuring everything out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4465217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulousreaper/pseuds/fabulousreaper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stanford had no memory of what had happened prior to waking up. He knew that they had gone out searching for a creature that he had seen tracks of in the forest but other than that it was all blank. When he woke up he was in his bed, Fiddleford and Stanley next to him. Fiddleford was sitting on a stool next to his bed and his brother was pacing not too far from them. His eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when he saw the condition that his brother was in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote another thing.

Stanford had no memory of what had happened prior to waking up. He knew that they had gone out searching for a creature that he had seen tracks of in the forest but other than that it was all blank. When he woke up he was in his bed, Fiddleford and Stanley next to him. Fiddleford was sitting on a stool next to his bed and his brother was pacing not too far from them. His eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when he saw the condition that his brother was in. Stanley had a bandaged forearm, a bandage wrapped around his head, scraped knuckles, and his normally white T-shirt had a claw-marked tear and was stained with blood. If Stanford had to guess he would assume that his brother’s torso was also bandaged. Surprisingly there wasn’t a mark on Fiddleford (if worry lines didn’t count) but he looked exhausted. Fiddleford had been watching him, wringing his hands anxiously, and when he saw that Stanford had woken up he nearly jumped out of his seat to gently push down on his shoulders.

“Wha….?”

Fiddleford shushed him. “Don’t try to sit up. You suffered a mighty fine head injury and chances are you got a concussion.”

Stanford stared at Fiddleford questionably but tried to relaxed nonetheless. Stanley walked up behind Fiddleford and offered his brother a small but worried smile.

“How ya doin’ bro?” asked Stanley.

Stanford tried to move his body but as soon as he did pain shot through him like electricity.

“Like shit.” Stanford groaned.

Stanley chuckled. “Yeah, I imagine.” Suddenly he became serious. “Whatever that thing was…it almost killed us.”

Stanford nodded then flinched. “Yeah, sorry about that. Next time I’ll make sure we’re more prepared.”

“Well, next time ain’t gonna be for a while.” Fiddleford said matter-of-factly. “You boys are gonna be out of commission for a while, so until then no more monster hunts.”

With the way Stanford felt he didn’t even feel like arguing. “No problem doc, besides I could use some time to work on—“

“And no workin’ either!” said Fiddleford.

Stanford’s head shot up from his pillow only for him to regret it a second later. “What?”

Fiddleford crossed his arms over his chest. “You heard me, until you get better I’m putting you strictly on bed rest. I don’t need you exhausting yourself even more than you usually do, _especially_ with those wounds.” 

“But—“

“ _No_ but’s, Stanford! In fact, that goes for you too Stanley!” Fiddleford said jabbing his finger at Stanley.

Stanley looked down to Fiddleford confused. “Wait do I have to be on bedrest too?”

Fiddleford sighed and shook his head. “No, but I don’t want you rough housing and reopening your wounds.”

Stanley rolled his eyes. “You say rough housing, I call it exercise!”

“None of that either!”

Stanley rolled his eyes. “But babe--!”

Fiddleford sharply raised his hand and shook his head. “As I said to your brother, _no._ I stitched you up once and I don’t wanna have to do it again.”

Stanley grumbled but didn’t argue any further. There was a short period of silence among them before Stanford spoke again.

“So, uh…what happened?” He asked.

Fiddleford pursed his lips for a moment before looking away from the twins. He ran his hand over the back of his neck behind his hair feeling the bump that resided there. It was smooth like marble before his fingers grazed across a jagged dip that resided just in the middle. He shuddered when he felt the dip, old wounds returning to his conscious for longer than he would have preferred.

“Well, it turns out that the monster you were scouting was a bit fiercer than you originally thought. As soon as it saw us it attacked us. When you both went down I did my best to fend it off and it seemed to work. As soon as it was gone I brought you two back here and took care of your wounds.”

Both Stanley and Stanford stared at their friend, thinking deeply. Normally they would have believed Fiddleford and for the most part they did. But with the way Fiddleford was acting they both had a feeling that he was leaving out an important piece of information.

“Were you hurt at all?” Stanford asked, his voice laced with concern.

Fiddleford had been lost in thought before Stanford had spoken to him. He snapped back to reality with a harsh blink and looked to Stanford with a raised eyebrow.

“Hm? Oh, no. She didn’t seem to be all that interested in me.”

“She?” asked Stanley.

A flash of realization and horror crossed Fiddleford’s eyes before he quickly calmed down. “The creature? Yeah, it was pretty big. Certainly bigger than its tracks suggested.”

Again, Fiddleford rubbed the back of his neck, pausing every now and then. Stanford and Stanley glanced at each other and silently agreed to talk about this later. Something else must have happen other than what Fiddleford had told them but they wouldn’t press the issue at the moment. Fiddleford was their friend and if wasn’t telling them something then there must have been some freaked out stuff attached to it. Fiddleford would probably tell them eventually and if not, well, they’ll just see where it goes.

“Do you think it would be possible for to sketch what the creature looked like? You seem to be the only one who remembers what it looks like.” Said Stanford.

Fiddleford nodded. “Sure, I ain’t no artist but I’ll give it my best shot.” Fiddleford glanced at his watch. “Well, it’s late and I know you boys haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. What would you boys say to a late dinner?”

Stanley shrugged. “As long as you don’t burn it I’ll eat anything.”

Fiddleford rolled his eyes playfully at Stanley. “That was _one time_ , Stanley. And if I recall it was _you_ who set the timer wrong.”

Stanley chuckled. “Says the man who always burns his toast.”

Fiddleford stuck his tongue out at Stanley before moving to go to the kitchen.

“Watch yourself mister, you keep flashing that tongue of yours around and someone might just steal it!” Stanley said winking at Fiddleford.

Fiddleford blushed and laughed bashfully. “I’d like to see you try!” He said before disappearing into the kitchen.

Stanley smiled to himself before he caught the look on his brother’s face, which was a grossed out glare.

“What?” Stanley asked innocently.

Stanford rolled his eyes at his brother before mock gaging. In turn, Stanley looked at him with surprise shock.

“Oh, whatever is the matter dear brother?” Stanley said sarcastically.

Stanford glared at his brother again. “You’re gross.”

Stanley laughed. “Well, at least I wasn’t pushed into to bed by your assistant. Oh, wait… _I was!”_

Stanford gagged again.

In the kitchen Fiddleford was leaning over the sink blankly staring at the drain. He didn’t think he would see one of them again, from what he had known most of them tended to stay away from here due to all the other mysterious creatures. He knew what she had wanted and it pained him that he couldn’t give it to her. There was only one who would be able to help her and he had no idea where she was. He hadn’t seen Rose Quartz since….well since during the war. He ran his hand over the bump on the back of his neck and flinched when his fingers grazed over the crack. It had happened long ago but he remembered it like it was yesterday. Out of all things that would be his downfall fate had decided it would be sloppy footwork and a misplaced rock. He tried not to think about it, but it was hard to when he had a constant reminder at his fingertips. He griped the sides of the sink before going over to the mirror. He turned his back to the mirror and swept his hair to the side. On the center of that back of his neck was a circular moonstone with a jagged crack down the center. The crack barely stopped before the edges on either side, reminding Fiddleford just how lucky he had been. He sighed and let his hair fall into place.

Fiddleford shouted down the hall. “How does eggs sound, boys?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK the reason this took so long is because I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with this but now I have a much clearer picture. I actually wasn't even going to have Bill in this that much until I read the third part of the "Bullet holes" series by passionateartist (check out their work 'cause they are SPECTACULAR) and I was like "You know what I might actually be able to work with that". I checked over this twice so there shouldn't be any grammar mistakes but if there are please let me know.

A few days later and Stanford was back on his feet. Fiddleford still refused to let him do any heavy work in the lab so he settled with editing some of his notes for the time being. Stanley’s cuts had mostly healed up but, just like his brother, Fiddleford didn’t let him do much. For the past few days they had been doing pretty much nothing. Stanley for the most part watched TV and between that would flirt/pester with his brother’s assistant. Stanford had no problem with the two of them being together, in fact he had seen it coming a mile away. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t find it gross. Not gross in a bad way, more like when you see a triple chocolate cake in the store half off and you know you’ll throw up later but you still eat the entire thing in one go. It was a good kind of gross. Fiddleford was mostly cleaning and checking on the twins’ wounds. He didn’t mind cleaning up after the boys, he actually like to clean. It relaxed him in a way.

Fiddleford had been alone in the kitchen washing dishes when he sensed a morbid energy in the room. He tensed slightly before sighing and going back to scrubbing a plate. He felt the energy come closer to him and he tensed up again.

“What do you want Bill?” Fiddleford asked trying to sound annoyed but instead sounding tense.

Bill appeared to his right causing him to move left slightly.

_“Man, you are hard to sneak up on! Guess that old rock of yours still works.”_

Fiddleford cautiously glanced over his shoulder to see if he could see Stanley or Stanford. Thankfully, both brothers were out of sight and he didn’t hear anyone in the living room.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Fiddleford said as he rinsed off a plate and put it on the rack.

Bill folded his hands behind him and casually floated over the sink.

 _“Oh nothing, just seeing how the pine trees are doing.”_ He paused to laugh. _“That friend of yours really did a number on them!”_

Fiddleford glared at Bill, but that did nothing to faze the demon.

_“Interesting form she’s taken though, a little ironic if you ask me. I mean, I know she’s basically blind but she could have been a little more creative.”_

Fiddleford not so subtly slammed some silverware that he had just cleaned in the rack. “She didn’t chose that form.”

Bill shrugged. _“Did any of us chose our forms? Oh wait…you did! So has every other gem in existence.”_

Fiddleford would push Bill away but he knew that even if he tried he wouldn’t be able to. He knew Bill loved to talk to him about this stuff, he knew Bill loved the way it got him riled up inside or how nervous it made him. Bill knew exactly what made him tick.

_“Speaking of gems, have you thought about my offer?”_

Fiddleford paused and felt a shiver run through him as he shook his head. “My answer remains the same.”

Bill floated so that he was right in front of Fiddleford. _“Aw, come on! I just want to help a fellow non-human out! It’s not like it would hurt you that much, with the non-aging and whatnot. Wow, you gems are such fascinating creatures, you know that?”_

Fiddleford took a slight step back away from Bill. “I know you Bill, if you help me you’d need something in return. I don’t know what it would be but I know it would be no good.”

Bill shrugged. _“That’s just the law of nature, I believe humans call it equivalent exchange.”_

Fiddleford crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know if I would call your conditions equivalent exchange.”

Bill shrugged again. _“Depends on your definition of ‘equivalent’.”_  

Fiddleford sighed. “My answer is still no, Bill. Whatever you may want isn’t worth it.”

Bill looked at Fiddleford skeptically. _“Do you really think that, Moonstone?”_ Fiddleford flinched. _“Do you really think that being whole again isn’t worth what “horrible” thing I may or may not want?”_

Fiddleford pursed his lips and turned away from Bill as he continued.

_“If that ol’ gem of your wasn’t cracked you would’ve been able to protect your boss and boy toy from…Onyx, was it?”_

Fiddleford reluctantly nodded.

_“See, you even agree with me! My only question is why you haven’t even considered it, I won’t ask for that much”_

For a moment Fiddleford actually considered it. What said was true, if his gem wasn’t cracked…if he was restored to his natural power he would have been about to protect Stanley and Stanford. He’d even be able to protect them from all the other creatures in Gravity Falls. He might even be able to protect himself.

Fiddleford quickly snapped out of those thoughts before turning to glare at Bill. “As far as I know the only person that can heal Gems is Rose Quartz, and she does it with compassion unlike _you._ ”

Bill stared him down for a few moments before shrugging. _“Fine, if that’s how you want to be. If you change your mind you know where to find me!”_

Bill laughed morbidly before disappearing into the air. Fiddleford tensely watched where Bill had been previously floating before his shoulders slumped and he sighed. As much as he wished to be whole again there were reasons why he couldn’t accept Bill’s offer. Those reasons were tied in with why he hadn’t told Stanford or even Stanley. He wasn’t afraid of them thinking he was a freak and rejecting him, they see weirder things every day. He just didn’t want to put his friends in danger. Not all Gems like humans, and the ones that do are either shattered, corrupted, or reclusive. He tried his best to keep his energy to a minimum but it must not have been enough if Onyx found him. He thought of Onyx and how scared she must be. A pang of guilt echoed through him before he reminded himself that he couldn’t help her no matter how hard he tried. Her best bet would be to find Rose Quartz, or let Rose Quartz find her.

He didn’t want to think about that, all he wanted to do was finish the dishes and go from there. So that’s exactly what he did.      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well will eventually officially meet Onyx. I'd draw her and upload a picture onto Tumblr but I have no idea how *sweats nervously*  
> Just a heads up some time in the future they're going to be going to a Kindergarten! There's probably more than one considering that the homeworld gems were trying to mass produce other gems but even if there isn't the kindergarten we see in SU could be located in Oregon, we just don't know.  
> Also if you can please leave feedback 'cause I'm always a slut for feedback.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wasn't expecting the kind of feedback I'm getting so, um thanks!

Fiddleford sat at the table looking over some reports that Stanford had asked him to read. Apparently some people have been telling the local newspaper about a strange place they saw a ways away from town. Normally they wouldn’t give this too much thought but at least 17 groups of people have reported seeing this place and with further details it ended up catching Stanford’s interest. From what the people had said they knew that this place was in a mountainous area and had rows of rocks shaped like people all over the place. From what Stanford and Fiddleford knew there weren’t any known civilizations in the Americas that did things like that. Stanford thought it might be a monument built by a secret civilization of cryptic beings or might actually be stone people. Fiddleford almost laughed at the irony.

“Poke.”

Fiddleford felt a cheap breaded stick of some sort (probably a fish stick) being lightly shoved against his lips. He didn’t tighten his lips nor did he open them to accept the food, instead he continued to look over the news reports. He knew that Stanford would want to go and check the place out sooner or later but Fiddleford was a bit hesitant. Sure, both brothers were basically good as new but Fiddleford was worried that they might run into Onyx again. He knew that she was still in the area due to all the wild fire reports and warnings. The summer up in Gravity Falls was hot enough as it is but with her… _tendencies_ everyone was at a much greater risk.

“Poke.”

Fiddleford felt the fish stick being shoved against his lips again. He didn’t even have to look up to know who it was. He understood why Stanley did things like this but to be quite honest the less he ate the better. Sure, he _could_ eat but the process felt way too weird for him. Plus he found the experience of passing waste to be a very unpleasant experience. Same thing with sleep too. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy spending time with Stanley in his bed but as soon as his human companion fell asleep Fiddleford would find himself bored out of his mind. He used to try to leave and do some work but he would always wake Stanley up and, well, humans needed sleep.

Stanley pressed the fish stick against Fiddleford’s lips a bit harder. “Eat, Boo-Boo, eat.”

Fiddleford rolled his eyes and pushed the fish stick away from his mouth. “I already ate.”

Stanley grunted and pushed the fish stick forward towards Fiddleford’s mouth. “No you didn’t, if you did you’d be making that weird groaning noise every 2 seconds.”

Fiddleford sighed and brought his attention away from the reports and to Stanley, being met with a fish stick in his face. He ignored it and moved his head to the side so he could look at Stanley.

“Did it ever occur to you that I just don’t like food?”

Stanley nodded plainly. “Yep, but you need food to live so—“ he pushed the fish stick against Fiddleford’s mouth again.

Fiddleford found himself thinking “no I don’t” but didn’t say anything. He knew Stanley wouldn’t stop bothering him until he ate, that or he would be giving him that dumb concerned look all day that just melted his resolve and _damn it._ Fiddleford internally sighed before reluctantly opening his mouth a taking a bite. The breading was weird and it was cold in the middle but Fiddleford didn’t care that much. The bite he took was small but it was big enough to satisfy the oh so sweet and caring Stanley. Fiddleford slowly chewed and forced himself to swallow, shuddering at the felling of the muck going down his throat. The smile that Stanley gave him afterwards had been worth it.

“You’re a jerk.” Fiddleford said with no heat to his tone.

Stanley’s smile grew. “And you’re a nerd, what else is new?”

Fiddleford couldn’t help the smile that grew on him. He still couldn’t believe how much the twins cared about him. He had been pretty much alone for a long time and with what happened during the war he, well, he didn’t think he would ever feel like this again. He was happy.

Stanley heard thudding on the stairs and beckoned Fiddleford over to him. Fiddleford, knowing what he was implying, smirked and got up out of his chair taking the reports with him. Fiddleford went over and plopped himself right on Stanley’s lap making himself comfortable as Stanley wrapped his arms around him. Stanley rested his chin on Fiddleford’s shoulder and looked at the reports with him.

“So what do ya know about this weird place that everyone’s been talking about?” asked Stanley.

Fiddleford shrugged. “Not as much as I hoped. The only things I can really gather from these reports is where it is and what _might_ be there.”

Stanley was about to ask what Fiddleford meant by the word ‘might’ when his brother walked into the kitchen, his face buried in one of the journals. Stanford reached out for the fridge handle (which he found after waving his arm around like an idiot) and opened it, feeling for the plate of leftover fries that they got from the diner. Once he found them he tore the plastic wrap off with his teeth and set the plate down on the counter next to the microwave. He monetarily put the journal down to open the microwave and punch a time in before he paused. He turned his head towards Stanley and Fiddleford before his eyebrows raised slightly before they settled once again.

“Oh, I didn’t know you two were in here.” Stanford said nonchalantly before going back to heating up his fries.

Stanley didn’t move his head from Fiddleford’s shoulder. “With the way you’re into that book you wouldn’t know if a bomb went off.”

Stanford rolled his eyes at his brother. “I am not _that_ into my research.”

Stanley snorted which tickled Fiddleford’s ear. “Please, you’re more into your work than Han is into Leia!”

“I’m pretty sure Han is more into the Millennium Falcon than he is Leia.”

“Yeah you’re probably right.”

Fiddleford chuckled. “And you say that I’m the nerd.”

Stanley blew on Fiddleford’s ear making him squirm. “Liking Star Wars isn’t’ nerdy, it’s logic. Right, brobro?”

Stanford had a mouth full of fries so he just nodded before sitting across from Stanley and Fiddleford.

“Oh, Fiddleford—“ said Stanford after swallowing. “—were you able to find out anything else about that weird place people keep reporting?”    

Fiddleford shook his head. “No, not really. Though it is probably a lot bigger than people say if it’s in a mountainous area. Chances are we wouldn’t be able to drive the entire way there and would probably have to hike to find it.”

Stanley leaned forward excitedly like a little kid (while also making sure not to crush Fiddleford against the table). “Wait…we’d have to hike? We should go camping!”

Stanford groaned at the mention of camping.

“No really, we should! It would take a few days to fully investigate this place so there’d be no point in driving back a forth, plus you both need to endure some physical activity so that your heart doesn’t fail you or something.”

Stanford deadpanned at his brother. “My heart would probably fail me climbing up those godforsaken mountains.”

Fiddleford didn’t really say anything. A lot of people think that Fiddleford is frail but to be quite frank he’s probably stronger than both Stanley and Stanford combined, being a gem and all. Hell he probably had the most stamina out of the three of them. Matter of fact Stanley made the same assumption about Fiddleford before he beat Manly Dan at arm wrestling. Sure they were all drunk but it was an impressive feat nonetheless. That night Stanley was even more shocked about how well Fiddleford could keep up with him in bed. Stanley thought it was kind of hot in a weird way.

“What do you think, Fids?” Stanley asked Fiddleford, giving him that puppy-dog eye look.

Fiddleford shrugged. “We don’t really have anything going for the next week, do we?”

Stanford reluctantly shook his head. “No.”

“Well, then I don’t see why not.”

Stanley making a high pitched shrieking sound of joy before hugging Fiddleford closer to him. “Did I ever tell you that you’re my favorite person?”

Fiddleford smiled softly to Stanley. “More times than I can count.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm gonna try and write more because in a few weeks I'll be starting college and won't be able to update as much. So you all are gonna see a lull as soon as August 31st comes around, just a heads up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is gonna get a little angsty

There was a sharp ringing in his ears. Everything was fuzzy and unclear except for a strange smell he remembered to identify as ‘woodsy’. It was strangely quite except for this one consistent noise that he couldn’t quite put his finger on for some reason. He saw blotches of darkness dancing in his vision and for some reason it made him want to settle into what felt like grass beneath his fingers and do what humans called ‘sleep’. Strange…

He felt his head lulling to the side as someone grabbed his shoulders and lifted his upper body off the ground. The hands on his shoulders had a tight grip on him and were fighting not to shake him. He heard a voice calling to him that sounded miles away but was probably right in front of him.

_“...stone!”_

The voice sounded familiar but he couldn’t quite place who it was. He struggled to climb back towards consciousness but such a task was becoming increasingly difficult.

_“Moonstone!”_

The voice seemed to be closer now but he still couldn’t figure out who it was. Why was he having such a difficult time? He shouldn’t be acting like this, he couldn’t even remember what he was doing! This feeling was strange and new to him, like he was trapped in between warps with half his head out of the stream. Everything was… _uncertain._

“Moonstone wake up, please!”

His head shot up and his eyes widened working their hardest to process what was in front of him. He was looking up into the sky circled by pine trees, only the sky was blocked by another gem looking down at him with one large shiny black eye. Actually, that wasn’t an eye. It was a gem. Where their eyes should have been was a large, circular, shiny black gem. Their skin was also a shiny black right along with their hair. Their hair wrapped around their face like a khimar and seemed to fade into their long robes. The only color on their robes was the single pink diamond at the center of their chest. Their teeth were clenched as if from stress and he figured that if they had more human eyes they would be crying. He felt himself gasp even though he didn’t need air.

“Onyx…?” He groaned out.

He saw relief flood Onyx’s face as the grip on his shoulders loosened a bit. He placed his hands firmly on the ground to support himself before Onyx let go of him.

“Oh thank goodness…” She sighed out. “…I thought I was going to lose you too.”

He straitened his back and pressed a hand against his forehead trying suppress what had been described to him as a headache.

“What…happened?” He looked around, his image strangely blurry, and saw that it was only him and Onyx in the clearing. “Where are the others?”

Onyx pursed her lips before turning her head away from him. “They’re gone…” She whispered.

He had hoped that he hadn’t heard her correctly. “What…?”

“They’re all gone!” Onyx said, almost screaming. “We were ambushed and…I tried to save them but then you fell and I heard the most horrible—“ She stopped suddenly, her one eyebrow shot up as if her eye was bulging. “You’re gem…”

He felt something horrible curl up in his stomach. “What about it?”

She gestured for him to turn around, which he slowly complied with. She touched his gem with a shaky hand before gasping. He glanced behind him and saw that she had the other hand firmly pressed against her mouth as she continued to feel his gem.

“Wh…what’s wrong…?”

He saw Onyx gulp before slowly moving her hand away from his gem. “I’m so sorry, Moonstone…”

That horrid feeling in his stomach began to spread. “What’s wrong?”     

She didn’t answer.

He turned around and grasped at her shoulders. “What’s wrong?” He asked more urgently.

Onyx slowly inhaled through her nose before gripping at his shirt and resting her head on his shoulder. He blinked and then something occurred to him…his vision was still blurry.

“Onyx…why can’t I see?”

Her grip on his shirt tightened.

“Why do I…why do I feel so cold?”

She shook her head and buried her face deeper into his shoulder. With a shaking hand he reached behind him and pressed his fingers against his stone. Slowly he drew his fingers across the smooth surface before they suddenly came across a crack in the stone. He jumped when he felt it and at first didn’t believe it. But just to be sure he ran his fingers over the stone again and was met with a single crack. When his fingers grazed the crack it felt like someone had japed a metal rod into his skin and left him out during a storm. He became dizzy and he doubled over as if to vomit. Onyx grabbed him and pushed him upright only for his body to become limp against hers.

“I’m sorry…” She muttered against his shoulder.

* * *

Fiddleford rubbed his eyes as the memory faded away. This was one of the reasons he hated night time, hated not working. It gave him time for his mind to wander and think about everything wrong, all the things he didn’t want to think about. Stanley’s breath tickled his ear so he shifted so that he was laying on his side facing Stanley in bed. Stanley had an arm sleepily slung over him and one of his legs were tangled in with Fiddleford’s. He was slowly breathing and his face looked peaceful. Fiddleford smiled sadly and brushed Stanley’s hair away from his forehead. It was a hot night so his hair was damp from the sweat on his forehead but Fiddleford didn’t mind. He supposed that there was one good thing about night time, being able to see Stanley relaxed like this.

Even after all these years of living with humans the concept of sleep still fascinated Fiddleford. It amazed him that humans were able to let their guard down this much so that they could completely relax their bodies and leave themselves completely defenseless. It especially fascinated him when they trusted another person so much that they let them be in close proximity of them while in this state. To him it was like the ultimate form of trust. Stanley trusted him so much that he let him be with him when he was most vulnerable. It both saddened him and filled him with love. He felt ashamed that he didn’t tell Stanley about his past yet the man already trusted him with so much. Although he supposed that was because humans live such short lives.

Slowly, Fiddleford gently caressed Stanley’s face. He couldn’t help but wonder how long this would last, how far Stanley would make it in time. Humans were living longer and longer plus Stanley was healthy and fit for his age but… _still._ No matter how hard he tried the days still passed too quickly for him. Before he knew it he would be helping Stanley up the stairs or sitting in a field staring at his tombstone. These thoughts scared him.

Stanley stirred under his touch but he didn’t move his hand. Stanley slowly opened his eyes and when he saw Fiddleford he became concerned.

“What’s wrong?” He whispered.

Fiddleford pursed his lips before moving closer to Stanley and gripping his T-shirt. “Just hold me, please.”   

Stanley wanted to know why Fiddleford had looked so sad but he knew when and when not to ask questions. So instead he wrapped his arms around Fiddleford and held him as close as he could without suffocating him. He felt Fiddleford move his head under his chin and moved accordingly so that they would both be comfortable. He rubbed slow soothing circles on the gem’s back and kissed the top of his head.

“Don’t worry Fids, I got ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so I figured out how I'm gonna end this (y'all ain't gonna like it) so essentially I'm just going along with how this will all lead up to it. Also in case any of you are wondering you should try to imagine Onyx with more Middle Eastern features and /yes/ she is essentially wearing a khimar. I'm not sure when exactly the war for Earth took place but I still wanted to include some form of Islamic culture (because let's face it we don't see enough of that). I do plan on dipping deeper into Onyx's character involving Islamic culture (I can't say too much because they would basically be spoilers) but if I have offended anyone please let me know so I can make the right adjustments.

**Author's Note:**

> Short I know but I wanna see what kind of feedback I get on this before I continue any further. This idea came to me when I was drawing Fiddleford in Pearl's outfit (I was bored and decided to draw the mystery trio as the crystal gems) and this kinda just popped into my head. 
> 
> Please be gentle :)


End file.
